2003 Ford Crown Victoria Reviews from North America

2003 Ford Crown Victoria Standard V8

Summary:

Faults:

Gas cap seal failed, resulting in a "check engine" light. Easy and cheap fix though by buying another gas cap.

General Comments:

I was tired of driving econoboxes (was on my 3rd Japanese car) and wanted something with some ooomph. But I'm on a limited budget, and wanted something practical as well.

This car met all those requirements, and I am really happy with the car. The biggest impression this car makes is that it feels like a tank. I've gotten the car up to 95 mph, and it's rock solid, with no annoying jiggles, and with the powerful V8, it can easily pass semis on the highway.

As a matter of fact, it took a little adjusting for me coming from a long line of underpowered 4 bangers. The first time I stepped on the gas, my head snapped back, and before I knew it, I was already ahead of the truck. Whoa Nellie!

And I love the spacious interior, I call this a "couch on wheels", you can fit 6 people in this car, and those 6 people don't have to be midgets too.

One surprising thing about this car is how well it handles, given its size and weight. I feel more confident taking on curves in this car than my previous Nissan Sentra.

Another surprise is how fuel efficient it is on the highway. Last time I went on a highway trip, I averaged 27 mpg, which is not bad at all for a V8!

The only downside is that the styling is a little bland, but when you take into account all the upsides, it isn't that big of a deal.

I love this car, and would recommend this to anyone wanting a powerful, affordable sedan!

29th Nov 2013, 13:43

To add to my review, I started having problems with my headlights failing to turn on even though the bulbs are good. After doing an internet search, I find that they have problems with the LCM and the best bet is to buy a refurbished LCM from eBay.

The problem is if you buy a new LCM, it will fail AGAIN due to weak wiring. A refurbished unit will take care of this at a fraction of the cost and will last forever.

So far I'm at 93k miles, and this is the only major issue I've run into. I love this car!

2003 Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor 4.6L

Summary:

No wonder the police choose this car!

Faults:

The only thing that has gone wrong with this car was the transmission. When we first test drove it, we noticed the car would completely shut off during emergency stops.. It also hesitated to shift from first to second under low speed driving. We figured it was a fuel related problem, but instead it was transmission related. Long story short, we had the transmission rebuilt and the car drives beautifully.

Since it used to be a Police Interceptor, I would imagine the transmission has been beat up a bit, but now everything works great.

General Comments:

This car is really a wolf in sheep's clothing. Don't think that just because cops drive granny looking cars, that they behave like granny cars. They handle as if they were sports cars. Just watch a recent episode of Wildest Police Chases, and you'll see the newer Crown Victoria P71s doing some crazy things that would literally break most other four door sedans. The Police Interceptor models have the 'severe duty' suspension, sway bars, engine oil and transmission coolers, and much better gearing ratios for faster and more responsive acceleration. This particular one that I have used to be a undercover vehicle, so it looks even nicer and is in better condition than the other ones that are in the city 24/7 sometimes.

This car looks intimidating, handles like a car half its weight, and best of all, makes you feel like the 5-0 when you're driving it. All of this because of the Police Interceptor package. No one will contemplate tailgating you or cutting you off when you're driving this car.

Everything about this car is just great, the ride, the handling and the looks. The CVPI model comes with the bucket seats compared to the bench seat in normal Crown Victorias (which is a huge plus in my book). The Panther platform is an aging design, but its reliability goes above and beyond any other car out there in my opinion. The interior is somewhat basic, but who needs 30 buttons on the dash distracting you from the driving experience? It's very well designed, and it has a sense of security because of the size of the vehicle.

This car has the 4.6L V8 with 235 horsepower and 280lb ft of torque. It doesn't sound like a lot, but with the gearing ratios this car has, it can get up and move VERY FAST for a vehicle that weighs over 2 tons. Some enthusiasts even slap a supercharger on, beef up the suspension and give wider rear tires. These are truly the last of the modern muscle car.

The paint on most Crown Victorias I've seen haven't held up so well. Surprisingly this Crown Victoria still has its very very good condition original white paint.

The engine is silky smooth. It is very common for a Police Interceptor model to be used for around 100k miles by a police department, and then see another 200k miles put on it by a taxi cab company. With routine maintenance, these cars will last longer than most cars you can probably think of (at a much cheaper maintenance cost as well).

31st Jul 2010, 21:52

Yo man, I couldn't have said it any better. I work on the Police Interceptor Vic's all day at a taxi company out of Bridgeport, Pa and most of our cabs have 350k pushing 400k and still run like great. Soon as I finish my Ranchero, I'm gonna get myself an 03' or an 05' PI and make it the meanest sleeper around.